Things concerning Jews in Portland and everywhere that happen here and in Israel coming from an American-Israeli.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Census Time of the 12 Tribes of Israel

Nadene Goldfoot

Moses was born in 1391 BCE and died in 1271 BCE as best as has been figured. He led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land which was Canaan . When he started he was 80 years old So it was in the year 1311 BCE that this exodus started. He didn't make it as he took 40 years to get there, so died at age 120 outside of the land and Joshua had to take over his position of entering the land. They found that it was important to take a count, a census of the tribes and this is recorded in the Torah twice under NUMBERS, one of the 5 books of Moses.

Every Jew was counted individually as they passed in front of Moses and Aaron at the beginning of their trek away from Egypt and presented proof of his tribal descent. This happened on the 1st of the 2nd month, in the 2nd year after their exodus from Egypt. They received their blessing and guidance. Once counted the tribes were arrayed around the Tabernacle, demonstrating that the presence of G-d was the starting point. It was the central focus of the nation then and for always. "Jews are a nation by virtue of the Torah." It is their reason for being a nation, their raison d'etre. By accepting this they became a people and by following the Torah they remain a people. They camped around the Tabernacle which held the Tablets of the Law and marched with it wherever G-d led them. Our saying is, "More than the Jews have preserved the Sabbath, the Sabbath has preserved the Jews." The Jews follow their law in that the Sabbath starts on sundown Friday night and ends on Saturday night with the showing of 3 stars in the sky.

The biblical commentator, Rashi, noted that at the beginning of NUMBERS it was G-d who counted the nation at every significant turn. They were counted as individuals which shows the worth of every person counted. It would have been easier to count them in masses but sheer numbers wasn't the point of the census. Each person was to feel that they mattered and that they had a personal responsibility to grow and contribute. Each tribe had their own uniqueness and each individual was precious in his own right.

Our 5 books of Moses in Numbers tells how the nation slid and an entire generation had to die through the 40 years of walking, but their children came out of it strong and courageous. They were ready to claim their destiny as the heirs to the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as they gathered around the Tabernacle ready to follow Moses.

The 2nd census was taken after the plague.This was a plague that killed 24,000 people who were part of the exodus. The people had settled in Shittim and started seeing the women of Shittim who came over to them and were being very suggestive. The foreign women invited the Israelite men to their feasts of their gods and they complied and started to praise their god, Baal-peor. Now, sexual morality is the foundation of Jewish holiness and we are not to be immoral. Balaam, a great magician, counseled Balak, king of Moab, to entice Jewish men to break their law and they did for the offer of sex. Balaam had told Balak that the only way to harm the people of Israel was to seduce them into sin. For only then would G-d punish His people. One man was so brazen as to bring his paramour right to Moses and sinned in public view. You can imagine what he was doing. He was killed for doing this-the punishment of the period. This evidently was the plague that hit the Israelite men. Then G-d spoke to Moses and to Elazar, son of Aaron the Kohen and told them to take a census of the entire assembly of the Children of Israel, from 21 years of age and up, according to their fathers' houses, all who go out to the legion in Israel.

What we learn from this is that the 600,000 some people on the exodus did not march continually every day, but they did take a break once in a while and here that break led to the death of many for fornicating and starting to worship other gods. It was not an easy task to change their habits. Here the Moabites were guilty of enticing them to sin in the hopes that G-d would then destroy them. What has happened to the Moabites now days? Do you think they are hiding out in some canyon someplace? I'm afraid not. They have long disappeared. They may be showing up in DNA tests as a few segments of genes, but as a people, known on this planet-no. If there are descendants, they are not known as the Moabites anymore. But Am Yisrael Chai. The Jewish people are still here. There are now 6 million Jews in Israel according to the latest census.

About Me

I'm the American Nadene Goldfoot. Another lives in England. I'm the one who went to Israel and lived there from 1980 to the end of 1985. I'm an amateur genealogist for our family who also has expanded interests into dna. I now spend my time writing in my 3 blogs teaching about Israel and defending her position.

On my tree I have found Rabbi Samson Wertheimer, RASHI, and King David through DNA testing. Another branch holds the kings and queens of England by genealogy. When current events become deplorable, I turn to this hobby for a lift. It's all whetted my appetite for ancient history of Israel.